Without undoing his armor, Ben sat on the ground with one hand over his knee. His eyes looked coldly at Elvira. "First, I am sure you are confused. After all, you are one of them. Those we call travelers..."
"So I am not the only one?"
"Yes, in fact, there is a thod to call this traveler, like a summoning ritual. The species will be randomized, and each will have its own ability or special artifact. For example, in your case, it should be that pickaxe."
'Hmm… is that why she looked at the artifact that closely?'
"Can you take this from ?"
"Yes, but it's not that simple. To get an artifact from a traveler, soone will need to kill the user and gain recognition of the artifact."
Ben's killing intent rose. Elvira raised both hands in surrender. "Look, if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't talk like this. Cooperation based on trust is what I need the most now. And it's not like taking another artifact doesn't co without any repercussions. They will get a curse."
'A curse? Well, it's not like it matters to … But if she is not lying, that greedy look in her eyes before was not for the artifact? Than why she tore my arm trying to take the pickaxe? She is still hiding sothing.'
"Before, you said sothing about humans, the creator species that went extinct. Does this an no human traveler has been summoned so far?"
"They do, but it's very rare. As for the creator species, it's stated in many legends of my clan. All of the species and knowledge that exist today were created by humans, but so incidents happened that turned them extinct. As for the cause, it's not clear. So say it's a natural disaster; others say it's an invader. I also hear so describe it as God's punishnt and civil war."
'So, no conclusive reason. It's also possible that the reason is a mix of them.'
"As for my desire, I am actually in the line of succession for the throne of my clan. I need your help to take it. When the clan cos under , since I am loyal to you, this also ans they will co under your control."
'That is not interesting to at all; I don't have any wish to beco a leader.' This was what Ben wanted to say, but he didn't, since sohow his heart felt hot hearing about it. A power to beco the leader, an ambition to be the king. It was sothing he never had; he just wanted to live his life peacefully.
'Is this an aftereffect of changing my race?' This question puzzled Ben. Unfortunately, he hasn't had ti to check this yet. "Let's say I support you. How sure are you to win?"
Elvira's gaze turned complicated; she hesitated for a mont. "You may think I am crazy, but there is a reason I am sure I can win as long as you agree to support ."
She then flicked her finger. A crack began appearing on her lower body, followed by a bright light. The next mont, Elvira landed on the ground, her body completely humanoid. She walked slowly toward Ben and then sat in front of him. "May I know your na?"
"Just call Ben. You still haven't answered my question."
Despite the change, Ben didn't make any move. 'So she can transform. This ans she was not fighting with all her skills before. Was it just to test then?'
Elvira looked at Ben with a serious expression. "I know the future."
"You an you have so kind of prophecy skill? Then tell , what is my future?"
"I am sorry, but I cannot read yours since you don't exist in the future I have seen."
"Hahaha. Are you joking, Elvira? If I don't have any future, why would you want to cooperate with ? You even go as far as offering your loyalty. That doesn't make sense."
Ben started thinking of the possibilities, but he didn't get it.
The more he thought about what happened, if Elvira could see the future, the battle would not have proceeded like that. It was the sa with their discussion now, but it didn't look like she was lying either. 'If she is not lying, and what she says is really the truth…'
"Did you regress to the past?" If it was before, even after coming to this world, he would have thought regression was sothing impossible. It was basically ti travel, but now he felt it was not far-fetched.
"Yes."
"How many tis have you regressed?"
"…"
"Two tis, this is the third and also my last chance."
'She hesitated. Does this an she has more chances, but she just doesn't want to tell about it? But this confirms her regression chance is limited.'
Elvira then began to tell her situation. Based on her story, in this area existed a relic that could give her an edge over her competitors. Unfortunately, she got ambushed and was almost murdered. That was how she ended up possessing the ant queen.
"If you regressed, why would you do sothing that changes things a lot? Wouldn't it work better if you bide your ti and gather strength while trying to minimize change?"
"I tried that on my first regression and failed. As for my second, this relic was the cause of my defeat. Honestly, I never thought she would suddenly co out with that relic."
Elvira then proceeded to tell how she defeated one of her competitors and then banished her to this area. It turned out that in this world, everyone lived underground. No one knew what happened on the surface area, but based on legend, it was completely uninhabitable. And those who tried to look for it never returned.
The underground itself was separated into a few layers and areas, the best one being located near the surface while they were now deep underground. This confused Ben, as underground should usually have better and rarer materials. But the circumstances were different here.
Although there were many stronger materials, the technology to process them had been lost. This made it pointless to gather rare materials. In contrast, near the surface, many ancient ruins were located. They were filled with ancient relics and technology.
Of course, using them required a lot of effort and many trials. This is why each clan would secure a good ancient ruin and then establish their territory there. The more relics and technology they could hoard, the higher the clan's standing was. "What kind of relic are you looking for?"
"We don't know the real na, but we call the relic a combat suit. It greatly enhances the user's ability, allowing even the weakest soldier to fight like a elite."
'A combat suit? What is that, a power armor or a robot?' Ben had his suspicions, but now he finally understood Elvira's desire. "So that's why you want my cooperation so much. Since I can easily dig a hole through the hard rock in this place. But can't your royal guards do the sa thing?"
"At this depth, yes. We are still on layer 8. As for the relic, based on my knowledge, it's found on layer 9."
This world didn't use trics to calculate depth. Instead, the closer to the planet's core, the higher the layer number was. This thod was created by a traveler who had dug all the way to the point they couldn't go deeper, as the rock beca too hard, and the heat was also unbearable. This spot then addressed as layer 10.
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